The Charlotte Hornets were able to narrowly defeat the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, in large part due to clutch baskets from LaMelo Ball. In his post-game conference, James Borrego explained how Ball proved he's a ‘winner' against the Suns, via Rod Boone.

With a little under four minutes remaining in the game, the Hornets and Suns were tied at 110 following a dunk by Devin Booker. The only reason Booker got an easy dunk in transition was due to a mistake by Ball on the defensive end.

However, Ball would make it up for it by taking the inbound pass and quickly locating Miles Bridges for an alley-oop to regain the lead. His ability to bounce back after a mishap on defense was an example of why Ball is proving to be a special player in his rookie season.

Besides his inbound alley-oop, Ball would make another clutch play in the final stretch of the game. While the Hornets held a 115-110 lead with under three minutes remaining in the game, Ball would have possession of the ball at the top of the three-point line.

As the shot clock was winding down, Ball would get the switch he wanted, with DeAndre Ayton defending him on the outside. Ball would conduct a few rapid moves with the ball to get away from Ayton and get himself an easy dunk to extend Charlotte's lead.

To begin the season, Ball had his minutes limited due to Borrego wanting him to earn his playing time as a rookie. It's safe to say that Ball is showing exactly why he deserves to have a more prominent role moving forward.